Archive for the ‘Profiling’ Category

As the day progressed yesterday with the news on Sirius XM on throughout, I listened as the details came in. A serial bomber had begun a terror campaign with pipe bombs that may or may not be inert but still serving the desire of creating terror. As the day progressed it became clearer that the targets (now 8 of them with DeNiro) all were people who had crossed paths with Donald Trump and had been attacked by him in rhetoric and name calling. While on the face of it the terror plot seems pretty clear per the narrative of the bomber (e.g. sending Trumps self pronounced enemies bombs) it may be too early to really say for sure what the motivation is, if there is any, politically or socially from the UNSUB here and this is a point everyone needs to understand. As the days progress and more details are given by the FBI we will get a better picture once the investigation becomes clearer. Until then though, here are some thoughts on the UNSUB and the plot given the details we have.

UNSUB Profile:

UNSUB is male (I don’t believe we have seen a female serial bomber yet)

UNSUB age likely to be in their 20’s to early 30’s

UNSUB in this plot is likely alone in this but more than one in a Folie A Deux cannot be discounted.

UNSUB is new to bomb making but has a history with fireworks and black powder uses

Crude PVC bombs

Materials were easy to get and work with (basic)

Trigger mechanism is still TBD but all bombs failed to trigger and detonate (by design or by mistake? As devices were live I am leaning towards mistake)

Bombs, while crude seem to try to emulate sophistication with timer device (trigger) but in the end are basic

Packages had excessive postage and have all the hallmarks of classic signs of parcel bombs (easily visually discernible as bombs)

Misspellings on labels show lack of attention to detail and likely flow into design flaw that led to bomb failures

Device construction (TBD) will determine the level of detail orientation of UNSUB and as time will tell may yield forensic evidence that could lead right to them (DNA/Prints)

UNSUB seems to be from the Tri-Sate area of NY given posting of packages and access to Soros home.

Motive Profile:

Victimology suggests political motives (Democrats and those who have angered Trump)

UNSUB use of Wasserman Shultz address fits profile of narrative by Qanon/MAGA accolytes of false flag operation by the Democrats (this had already been spun up but the use of the address leads to a higher probability of this being a motive)

UNSUB may be trying in their own way to intimidate Democrats and people who would vote for them in the midterms upcoming

IF we start seeing packages to polling places this will cement this line of thought.

UNSUB is doing this to feel some power that they lack in their lives

Target choices and political motivations on the face of this indicate that they idolize Trump

Imagery and target choices also indicate that they are conspiracy oriented individuals

Placement of the fist bomb in Soros mailbox indicates they see Soros as the head of the snake (this is a common Qanon/MAGA conspiracy plotline that Trump espouses)

UNSUB motivations other than political (personal) are to revel in the “spectacle by destruction” or in this case, with the failure of detonation, to cause chaos and sow conspiracy

Motive may become clearer if there are any communications from the UNSUB

UNSUB may feel compelled to speak online about motivation and or to cause more fear since detonation failures did not finish the plot as anticipated

UNSUB’s connection to Trump and feelings of loss of status, power, place lead to emulation of Trump and or feelings of outrage against those Trump attacks

This attention seeking may in fact lead to direct communication attempts with Trump in the past

As we get more information I guess we will see where my armchair profiling hits the mark or is way off. I personally do not buy that this is a “false flag” like so many with cognitive dissonance out there seem to be spewing. I can afford the following ideas however on that line of thinking:

IF this individual was groomed by someone to carry out these acts it may well have been a nation state actor doing so.

Use of these bombings will in fact be made by the RU and other actors as we have already seen on social media with the cacophony of narratives and meme’s to date.

I do not believe that this is a plot by a foreign nation though. No, this seems more your run of the mill unbalanced individual with issues who aligns themselves with Trump and MAGA and is acting out for their own desires. The actions so far show an individual without nuance and experience and I suspect they will be caught soon by the FBI/USSS because they were inattentive to details that will in the end lead investigators right to him

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Personae Dramatis: The Rogues Gallery

In this post I would like to show you what I have been seeing with regard to Anonymous the other groups that have spawned from it. Increasingly over the last year or two I have been seeing analogies both literally, and figuratively between the forces at play and I feel that all of it is directly affected by the comic book world of Batman. The analogies that I am making come from observing not only the actions of the parties but also the methods that they use (down to the imagery in word and graphical) to get that message out to the masses.

In the case of Anonymous and their spin off groups, I have observed a shift in personalities that could be termed an evolution in motivations and thought. Generally though, the game plan seems to be just a general way for the groups to sow anarchy while feeding their narcissistic needs through media attention. This is the crux of the issue I think as the core groups don’t seem to be solely motivated by ethical or political change. Instead, it all seems to be focused on a few drivers;

Lulz Just for the hell of it, or a desire for amorphous anarchy

A feeling of power over other forces (government/law) that subsumes their feelings of powerlessness

A need to fulfil the narcissistic tendencies by sowing havoc and seeing it in the media (like some narcissistic serial killers Denny Rader for example)

Equating this with the world of the Batman has been in the back of my mind for some time, especially since my dealings with Jester. His logo and his persona of the “joker” from the last Dark Knight film set the stage for me to start to think in this vein. A more recent video by the History Channel solidified all of this for me. The video, “Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight” struck me as not only as being the zeitgeist of this article, but, also seemed to show a generation of comic book and movie goers that are internet denizens that want to emulate this last iteration of “The Joker” specifically.

The Heath Ledger portrayal of Joker seems to have been the catalyst to me, of many an internet anarchist. The media surrounding this being his last role as well as the way the character was re-written in this story arc, hit a common nerve with the masses. So much so, that seemingly, the Joker became the more emulated and lauded character in the story over its real hero, Batman. It is from this realisation that I derive the rest of the analogies made here. Of course these are gross generalities, but, I tend to think that given the recent activities (riots in the UK and flash mob thievery in the US as well as all the lulz) there is a strong correlation to be made.

First though, lets look at the Rogues Gallery that end up in Arkham Asylum…

Ra’s Al Ghul and The Shadow Assassins

Ra’s is a control freak. His agenda is to have order but his means to get that order mean subjugation of the masses and removal of anyone that does not conform to his sense of right and wrong. This order that he wishes to impose comes from his shadow assassins and their lethality without question.

The Riddler

The Riddler is a pure narcissistic criminal genius. His narcissism though, is usually his undoing as he cannot perpetrate any crime without leaving overt clues in an attention seeking pathology. It is this pathology, the need for the attention that drives him altogether and is his undoing.

The Penguin & The Joker or PenguiJoker

The Penguin (Societal and Governmental corruption) and The Joker (pure anarchy) are two rogues that have become one in this scenario. Within the world of Batman though, each attacks the order seeking to destroy it for their own ends. In the Penguin we have someone looking to corrupt the system. Meanwhile, the Joker, is pure anarchy diametrically opposed to the order (aka Batman) Joker’s need is fuelled by a nihilistic world view twisted with a good deal of insanity.

All of the Batman wannabes in hockey suits

Lastly, we have the Bat-men, the would be vigilante’s who want to be the Bat, but, don’t have the tools to really be of use. This character set was added from the last film (The Dark Knight) and I generally attribute to one player in the real world (if you call it that) version of Gotham Knights being played out on the internet. That individual(the afore mentioned jester) oddly enough aligns himself visually much of the time with “The Joker” but, he is more like the hockey suit wearing would be Batman.

Now that I have laid down the Batman’s Rogues Gallery, I will move on to the real world players and their motives aligned with my premise.

Anima & Animus:

The shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to projection: turning a personal inferiority into a perceived moral deficiency in someone else. Jung writes that if these projections are unrecognized “The projection-making factor (the Shadow archetype) then has a free hand and can realize its object–if it has one–or bring about some other situation characteristic of its power.” [3] These projections insulate and cripple individuals by forming an ever thicker fog of illusion between the ego and the real world.

C.G. Jung

According to Jung and even Freud, the darker side of the psyche can drive our actions solely by the shadow self. One can see hints of their theories in the actions of each of the groups we are talking about here. Even the subtle connections made from overt symbolism can be made through the icon of Antisec itself. As seen at the top of the page, the connections are there to be made between the characters of Penguin, Joker, and Riddler, even if the original core image came from another source altogether (V for Vendetta) I believe that the collective unconscious here latched on to the images of Riddler/Joker/Penguin and co-opten them, if they didn’t actually do so overtly and with forethought.

So, with all of this said, I will make the claim now that I believe the movements and the players have been created out of vainglorious motives and have not changed at all since taking on the mantle of ethical and political change through civil disobedience. To that end, here are the players aligned to their characters from the world of Gotham as well as their psychological underpinnings.

Anonymous: Ra’s Al Ghul and The Shadow Assassins

Anonymous started out as a group of people who inhabited the 4chan group but wanted to do something different for ‘entertainment’ This loose idea was co-opted when they began to commit civil disobedience for their own purposes either political or for the aforementioned entertainment value. Either way, their animus is wholly about the control which they can wield over others. This should never be forgotten, that the core of the group ethos has nothing to do with change or moral/ethical betterment. It is in fact all for their own enjoyment.

Lulzsec: The Riddler

Lulzsec came into being because they felt that the ethos and moral constructs of Anonymous were too weak and they wanted to escalate the ‘lulz’ for their own enjoyment. The take away here is that just being pranksters was not enough, instead they wanted to show everyone they were smarter than everyone else AND that they could do so and get away with it. All the while, they performed these acts in an exceedingly narcissistic way. A key player in this that has been caught would be Topiary. It seems that even in the face of prosecution he thumbs his nose at authorities as well as seems to be enjoying the limelight (philosophical book in hand for the cameras)

Antisec: The Penguin & The Joker or PenguiJoker

The love child of Anonymous and LulzSec are #Antisec. This agenda or perhaps subgroup (I tend to think there are cells of Antisec) has chosen a logo that decidedly shows the melding of at least two of the Batman Rogues Gallery (Joker and Penguin as you can see at the top of this article) This too follows into their attitudes about what they are doing and why they are doing it. They really have no rhyme or reason for what they do other than their own entertainment and attention. This is a classical narcissist behaviour and by all communiqués laid out by LulzSec, they fully enjoyed their ‘voyage’ in the lulz sea.

Antisec also has a Penguin side to them too. By using the system against itself (i.e. using the governments lack of network and system security) they poke them in the eye by subverting their own data to shame them. This is a lesser characteristic as I see it, but it is still important to note as well as point out the imagery (homage) to the Penguin in their logo whether it was overtly done or by proxy of some unconscious connection made by the designer.

th3j35t3r: All of the Batman wannabes in hockey suits

Finally, we have the jester. A character who wants to be the Batman, but fails to actually affect any kind of real change in the battle. For all of the attempts made, the efforts fall flat and to date, nothing has been attributed to him that substantially made a difference against the Anonymous/Lulzsec movement. I believe he does this as well as his other DDOS actions out of a self described sense of helplessness. Jester makes the claim that he had to do something as he saw his comrades dying at the hands of Jihadists. He made similar remarks about why he was attacking Anonymous, as they were outing data that could harm those in the field of battle.

Either way, his motivations seem to be tainted with a bit of narcissism as well, seeking the attention of the media as he has in the past makes him part and parcel to the overall problem.

Escalation:

And so it goes on… The Anon movement has begat others who have agenda’s of their own (or perhaps pathos is a better word) As the movements lose interest in the day to day grind of operations, they will increasingly seek to up the ante. As the media winds down on them, they will need to seek even bigger targets and outcomes to end up back on the top of the news, all the while feeding their collective need to be the centre of attention. The flip side of this will be that the authorities, unable to cope easily with the problem at hand, will create new and more stringent laws that will harm us all. Though this will not matter to the groups.. Because this is unimportant to their end goal of satisfying their needs. It will keep going round and round and the outcomes are likely not to be good. There will be a lot of collateral damage and in the end, no one will have profited at all from it all.

End Game:

So what is the end game here? Will there be any good outcome from this?

Not if it keeps going the way it has been. More indiscriminate hits against targets without showing anything for it along the lines of showing corruption or malfeasance will only lead to more knee jerk reactions by authorities. I imagine some will be caught and tried for their actions, others will escape and perhaps go on to other things… Overall though, it will not make a better world. It will only have fulfilled the dsires temporarily of the ones perpetrating the acts against.. Well anyone and everyone.. Until they get put into Arkham.

Digital Ninja Fail: ウェブ忍者が失敗する

The recent arrests of alleged key members of LulzSec and Anonymous have been called into question by the ‘Web Ninja’s‘, a group of would be hackers who have been ‘DOX-ing” the anonymous hierarchy for some time now. Yesterday, they posted the following on their page concerning the arrest of a man from the Shetland Islands who is purported to be ‘Topiary‘ by the Met and SOCA.

Now, this is a bold statement for anyone who really knows what they are doing in the intelligence analysis field. So, it is my supposition that these guys have no clue about what they are doing by making bold assertions like this. The data they have is tenuous at best and by making such bold statements, I have to wonder if indeed the so called ‘Ninja’s” themselves might not be a tool of anonymous to in fact sow that disinformation.

Here are the facts as I see them;

To date, the federal authorities have not questioned anyone who was DOX’d by the Ninja’s that I am aware of

The individuals who were DOX’d that were investigated by the authorities were in fact outed by LulzSec/Anonymous themselves

Adrian Chen has spoken to the person that the Ninja’s have fingered and claims that he (said person) went to the authorities himself. So far he is still not a suspect.

So, taking into account these facts, I would have to say that the Ninja’s have failed in their stated mission so far and I would suffice to say that if they are indeed a part of a disinformation campaign, then that too has failed. After all, the police seem to be ignoring the data put on the interent by the likes of the Ninja’s in favour of other tried and true tactics. The primary tactic as I see it, is grab one individual and then get them to roll over on their compatriots in the face of massive jail time.

This pretty much works all the time as we, as human beings, are most willing to sacrifice others for the self. In the case of the likes of LulzSec skiddies, I would have to say that the ages of the players, and their generational tendencies will allow them to cut deals pretty quickly. It’s my assessment that they are in it for the self gratification and lulz, not for the altruism that the LulzSec and Anonymous press releases have been trying to have one believe. My assumption is that if indeed the 19 year old guy they popped in Scotland is involved with LulzSec, and is in fact Topiary, he will roll over soon enough.

I also believe that these are all untrained operatives and they have made and will make more mistakes. I am pretty sure that the alleged “leaderless” group has leaders AND that unlike a true guerrilla warfare cell, will know the other players personal details. Essentially, they have had no compartmentalisation and they will all fall eventually though interrogation and deal making. As I said before, the insider threat to the organisation is key here, and it was this idea I think the Ninja’s had.. Well, at least that was the original idea of the Ninja Warrior. They were spies who infiltrated the ranks and destroyed from within.

Now, on the whole disinformation thing, I know that the Lulz and Anonymous have said that they are using disinformation as well to try and create a smoke screen. Frankly, all of the intelligence out there that is open source is suspect. Maltego map’s of end user names as I have shown in the past can be useful in gathering intelligence… Sometimes. For the most part, if a user keeps using a screen name in many places and ties that name to real data, then they can be tracked, but, it takes a lot of analysis and data gathering to do it. Though, many of the foot soldiers within the Anon movement are young and foolish enough to just keep using the same screen names for everything so there is a higher likelihood that the data being pulled up on Maltego and with Google searches is solid enough to make some justified conclusions.

With the more experienced people though, there has been some forethought and they have protected their identities as best they could. What became their real downfall was that they could not rise above petty infighting and dox-ing each other. Thus you have the start of the potential domino effect on the core group as well as anyone who has any peripheral affiliation with the Lulz. Be assured, those who have been pinched are giving up as many names as possible as well as whatever is on their hard drives, Anon hacker manuals or not. All of these scenarios lead to the conclusion of more arrests by the authorities and even more skiddies getting into legal trouble around the globe. Meanwhile though, if the core group has been smart, then perhaps the leaders will skate for a time, using the masses as canon fodder.

Gee kids.. Did you know that you were all expendable?

On another tac, I would like to speak about the potential of the disinformation campaigns being perpetrated by the authorities as well. Consider that the trained professionals out there who are hunting these characters (Topiary, Sabu, et al.) are also adept at using not only the technologies of the fifth battlespace, but also the training afforded them in ‘spook world’ This means disinformation campaigns, mole hunts, and insurgencies of their own, getting to the inner core of Anonymous and Lulz. Now, that there were six (alleged) lulzer’s it would be more difficult to do, especially if those LulzSec folks really do know one another (as they claim they do not, which, I just don’t buy.. Remember the compartmentalisation issue) The agent provocateur’s are out there I am sure and with each rung of the ladder, they get closer to the core group.

That is unless the core group falls apart on their own and DOX’s each other out. In the end, I am going to suggest that the authorities will use all of the tricks of the trade on the Anon/Lulz folks to bag them… And with concerted effort by government resources, they will get their men/women.

Untrained, Unruly, and Unprofessional Operators:

“Discretion is the better part of valour” as they say, and in the case of the Lulz and Anon crews, they seem to not have a clue. Perhaps the Lulz think that by being unruly and unpredictable to a certain amount, will be just the cover they need, but, I think that their lack of discretion will be their undoing as well as their hubris. Had many of these folks had some real training, they might have just stood down for a while (not just a week or so) after setting sail into the sunset.

As I have said before, it was a bad idea to recruit and have comm’s out in the open on IRC servers even if they had ‘invite only’ channels. As is being seen now, someone (jester perhaps) has taken down their servers again after other outages due to Ryan Cleary’s attack and pressure from the government on those connection sources that the Anon’s were using. I am sure the idea was to have a movement that could also serve as diversion for the core users as well as to LOIC, but this all failed in the end didn’t it? The LOIC is what has given the FBI the 1,000 IP addresses as a hit list, so to speak, that they are now using to collect people and charge them for the DD0S attacks.

Had these people been trained or not been so compulsive, they might have had more of a chance to keep this up for a much much longer time. As I write, the Lulz do continue, but they have slowed quite a bit since the arrests started again. This I think is because the cages are starting to get rattled and people are finally coming to the conclusion that some discretion is needed to not end up Bubba’s play pal in prison. It’s a learning curve, and likely going to be a painful one for the kiddies.

Unprofessional actions within this area of battle will end up with your being put in jail kids.

To end this section I would also like to add this thought. My assessment of the Lulz core group is this;

They were drunk on the power of their escapades

The more followers they had and more attention, the less risk averse they became

They seem to have compulsion disorders (don’t say it.. Aspergers!) that seem to not allow them to lay low (until now it seems)

Another BIG issue within this battlespace is the technology. The Anon’s and Lulz have been ascribing to the idea of “Proxies, we haz them! So we’re secure!” and to a certain extent they are right. There are always ways around that though and certainly leaks in data (such as the TOR leaks that have happened) that could lead someone to locate the end user behind the proxy, so they are not fool proof. Certainly not if the fool in question is some skiddie 12 year old using LOIC un-proxied and not obfuscated while they D0S Paypal.

The problem is that the technology could fail you as well as the untrained operative could make small and large mistakes that could lead authorities right back to their IP and home accts. On the other side of that equation is that when properly done, it is damn hard to prove a lot in hacking cases because of obfuscation, as well as mis-configured end systems that have been hit. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen incidents play out where the target systems had no logging on as well as being completely un-secured, thus leaving practically nothing for a forensics team to find and use.

Once again, this brings us back to the insider threat, whether they be the insider who decides to go turncoat, or, the agent provocateur (i.e. Jester and the Ninja’s as well as others from the authorities) who infiltrate the Lulz and then gut them from the inside. What it really boils all down to is that in the end, it will be the foibles of the Lulz core and the actions of spooks that will bring them down.. And I think they are learning that very fact now.

As a last note, I would like to say to the Ninja’s, you need to learn and practice your Kuji-in. It is obvious to me that you have failed on the ‘Jin’ (knowing the opponents mind) with your dox attempts. Until such time as I see people being hauled in that directly relate to your documents posted, then I am going to consider the following to be the case:

DOX-ing is mostly useless and takes quite a bit of analysis before just releasing names

The Feds are not taking your data as gospel, nor should the general public or media

You yourselves may in fact be a tool of Anonymous/Lulz and as such, spewing disinformation

You could be right, but by releasing it to the public at large, you are letting the Lulz know to destroy evidence and create obfuscation that will hinder arrests later.

Ninja’s got results.. Not so much for ‘Web’ Ninjas. At least Jester, if his claims are true, is breaking their C&C channels lately.. Which has its own problematic issues.. Just like his meddling in the Jihadi area, but, that’s a story for another time.

A Killing Spree In Oslo:

While on vacation, Anders Breivik decided to go lone wolf and ended up killing 90 people. After his arrest more and more information started to come out as to his motives for the killing spree. What followed has become a sort of armchair detectives dream for the masses. The manifesto as it turns out, is pretty much all we have on Anders’ motives and having read through most of its 1,500 pages, I have come to the conclusion that he is in fact quite mentally ill.

I base this not solely on his actions, but also on his dense prose that shows a very organized personality having an extreme break with reality. Unfortunately, those around Anders did not see this happening or refused to see it, and in the end 90 people died because of his dissociation with reality.

The Manifesto: A Declaration of preemptive War

The manifesto “A Declaration of Preemptive War” for the most part, is a conglomeration of cut and paste from other documents including a great swath of Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto against technology “Industrial Society and Its Future” For the most part, the bulk of the document attempts to make the case that Europe has become infected by pervasive acquiescence on the part of the populace and government that has fomented a “multicultural” society. That society in turn, will result in the year 2083, in a “Islamification” of the EU and a new Caliphate will result.

Breivik rambles and cites numerous historical contexts trying to make connections from marxism to his end product of a new Caliphate and in so doing, is all over the map as he pedantically attempts to sway your mind to his point of view. All of this ‘documentation’ serves as the preamble for his personal writings further on (somewhere in the page 800 area) where he lays out the story of the PCCTS (Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici) or The Knights Templar and his new twist on this, ‘The Justiciar Knights’ (Justiciar being the latin for justice)

What is most interesting though is that when Anders wrote this part of the book (book 3) he attempts to distance himself from the distorted reality that he had been living and creating for so long in the previous 800 or so pages. Perhaps Anders was having a sanity break? I am not sure as to why he decided to take the tac he did with this section, but, as you can see below, he prefaces the book of pre-emptive warfare with a rather lengthy caveat;

“It’s all fiction”

3. A Declaration of pre-emptive War (book 3)

LEGAL DISCLAIMER (for certain chapters in Book 2 and Book: 3. A Declaration of pre-emptive War):

Book 3, “A Declaration of preemptive War” and certain chapters in book 2 in this compendium, titled “2083”, and all related research files describes a hypothetical response to a perceived threat (so called cultural Marxist/multiculturalist atrocities and the threat of Islamisation). As such, it is a fictional description regarding how it could be like if Islam would be dominant in Europe. The concept of the story/plot is based on what it would be like if certain Christian/conservative/nationalist resistance groups/individuals chose to oppose these so called perceived threats and enemies. It describes in shocking detail how they would most likely rationalise/think/justify/argue and behave towards these perceived threats/enemies. This books chapter 3 describes how a “fictional” resistance group is emerging and how it would operate from the so called “Phase 1 through Phase 3” in order to prevent these perceived threats and atrocities from futher manifesting and to prevent an alleged future Muslim takeover. It also describes specifically how this hypothetical fictional group, “PCCTS, Knights Templar”, would choose to respond towards the so called ”enablers” or the so called “cultural Marxist/multiculturalist” elites that are allegedly allowing millions of Muslims to enter Europe.The book contains detailed strategies (guerrilla tactics, instructions to execute, political campaigns etc.) which normally would be partly incriminatory to anyone who published or distributed the book (had it not been fiction). It also describes indirect and direct armed and non-armed strategies towards these so-called “traitors” – referred to as the cultural Marxists/ multiculturalists. The motivation for this “fiction-writer-approach” is to contribute to create a new type of innovative writing style. By defining, in a horrifically detailed way, a fictional scenario, the reader will be shocked due to the “hopefully” credible and extremely detailed elaborations. It should be noted that the author, as a sci-fi enthusiast, wanted to bring and create a complete new writing style that has the potential to shock the reader with an incredibly credible fictional plot (written in first, second and third person narrative). The author or distributor does not condone or agree with any of the descriptions or methods used in this book and the related chapters. However, the book was created to try to explain to the European political elites how the continuation of given political doctrines could result in similar manifestations (radicalisation of certain groups/individuals), as history has already proven, if they continue with their current policies. As such, it is a reminder to the current establishment what might happen if they repeat the mistakes of the past. Ignoring the will of the people will only contribute to radicalise groups/individuals and therefore contribute to polarise the political fronts and increase the chances of future conflicts. A continued humanist approach to mass Muslim immigration, and the implementation of Sharia on a local, national and pan-European level could result in a long term catastrophe. Not only as a result of a political Islamic consolidation from phase 1-3 but also the danger that REAL “resistance organisations” equivalent to the fictional group called “PCCTS” arises as a result of the discontent. Simulating the creation and detailed information about the actions of organisations like this is presented in detail (included combat/guerrilla simulations, planning phase, attack strategies etc) to try to forward a realistic impression to the reader and current European governments regarding what COULD develop if the current Islamisation process is allowed to continue. The detailed so called “terror descriptions” is therefore in place to create a sense of perceived credibility, reality under a credible fictitious framework. The threats, the discriminatory content and information about guerrilla warfare and violence, threats regarding killing of so called “traitors” and instruction on how to employ WMDs (which is all available through Wikipedia and other online sources to anyone btw) is therefore all a part of this fictional story/plot to strengthen the credibility of the framework. The book should therefore never be considered anything else than fiction (not real). Please note that in order to do some of the research in this compendium the author had to visit/seek several controversial websites/sources in order to gain access to the information. This does not mean that the author or distributor have any sympathy or empathy for any specified or un-specified violent or non-violent groups. All ”threats” etc in these fictional books are ”in character” and its primary goal is to give an impression of what it would be like if we were under threat by an extremist organisation. However, certain aspects of the content describing a lead character (a fictional political activist who has decided to become a so called “Justiciar Knight”) sounds very realistic due to the detailed descriptions. However, all incriminatory information in this work is written “in character” and must not be confused with an actual plan, or strategy to attempt to harm any individuals or infrastructure, any political groups or attempt to seize political or military control of Western European regimes. This book is therefore unique in many ways. It is speculated that this type of original approach has the potential to forward and present information in a new and original context. It is therefore no need for concern by any police/state/government prosecutors or intelligence agencies about the content of this book due to its fictional nature. This legal disclaimer was created to remove any doubt whatsoever that the author or anyone chosing to distribute the book “2083” has any hostile motives or intentions. If any legal authority have reservations against this new and innovative form of writing style, they may address or contact the author, any publisher or distributor and share their concerns which will be taken under consideration. Changes will be considered and implemented. As such, the content in its current form will not incriminate anyone, the author or any distributor.

As you can see, Anders takes great pains to say that all of this section is just a fiction and that it is not to be construed as illegal activity. Perhaps this section of the manifesto was written before the rest, before he sunk into the depths of dissociative thought. No one can really know unless they locate drafts of the manifesto with differentiated dates on them. So far the document as a whole showed 8 revisions in the metadata, but this only means that he could have cut/pasted the bulk of it from previous documents as text and then just did the copy editing from there. (this is my contention)

Suffice to say though, that this section is VERY telling in that it seems to show the only sign of knowing that what he is writing about (pre-emptive warfare) is serious and dissemination of the data within it could have gotten him arrested quite easily, but, as he mentions in the following manual on spec-war techniques (including bomb making with very specific directions) could land him on watch lists if not arrested outright.

I believe that this section was written at a time when he was in a more lucid, albeit dissociative state of mind.

Working Alone:

Being a Justiciar Knight is not for everyone. You are normally required to plan absolutely everything alone; fight alone to see your mission through and you are likely to die alone with half of your city’s system protectors hunting you. However, I have never in my life felt that I have done anything more meaningful than what I am doing now regardless of the lack of moral support from my founding brothers or other armed resistance fighters. Support from our extremely distributed and anonymous “non-hierarchy” out there would be nice but I have managed to cope through mental discipline to become what I am today; a self driven and highly effective manifestation of an independent resistance cell.

This section of the document is also important in several ways to Anders mental state and the statements he has allegedly made to authorities post his capture. Since being taken into custody, Anders has claimed he did not work alone and that there are other ‘cells’ out there. In more than a few places within the document, Anders makes claims that there are 8 other ‘Jusitciar Knights’ out there, while he also says that he is a single cell. This duality he tries to explain away as part of the plan to maintain security for his operation. However, much of the text often lapses into a timbre of he and he alone was acting on this as the ‘leader’ knight to show the way for others. It is this back and forth that usually denotes mental illness (divergent thought/cognitive dissonance)

In the end, it is my contention that he did in fact do this all by himself. I also am somewhat circumspect on just how much of what he claims to have done in the later sections (the phases) was actually done as opposed to only having taken place in his delusions. (if you have the manifesto, check the phases for planning/buying/operations) Anders claims to have moved to a farm, created companies, etc all in the furtherance of his goals operationally. If indeed he did carry all of this out and it was within the timeline (roughly 2009-2011) then this dissociative state has been ongoing for some time. All the while though, it is interesting to note that Anders anal personality traits are what likely kept him from being exposed before pulling off his plan. A plan though, that was not laid out in this manifesto as it played out, so I assume that there was a stessor that set Anders off and put him into play so to speak to carry out his spree this month. Just what that stressor was, we may never know.

Lone Wolf Jihad As A Video Game:

Another telling piece of the puzzle comes from a latter section of the manifesto where it seems that Anders begins to slide into unreality even further and melds his reality to that of the computer gaming (RPG) world that he mentions in numerous areas of the document. In a section concerning being caught or captured, he goes on to say the following about caching weapons and equipment;

This depot is intended to work as a cache in a scenario where the Justiciar Knight survives his operation and where he faces apprehension and subsequent incarceration. When incarcerated, the Justiciar Knight should do everything in in his power to escape from prison. If he succeeds, he may initiate a “bonus operation” which consists of the assassination of 3-5 primary category B traitors/multiculturalists. Prior to his arrest he must acquire at least basic intel on his targets (picture, address, full name) so that he may execute his operation in a timely and professional manner (the 3-5 executions combined should take no longer than 1-3 hours). After the escape from prison and after the equipment is retrieved; the Justiciar Knight will expropriate a vehicle from a civilian and initiate his mission (if you fear there are road blocks you may want to sleep camp in the forrest for 1-2 days). It is essential that the Justiciar Knight memorises the intel and container location prior to apprehension.

A bonus operation, much like the bonus round or an extra level in a game. It seems that for Anders, the world of the RPG and reality had fused together to the extent that they were the same thing. An even further interesting tidbit is that one of the games mentioned on a site that I will be discussing below, has a plot line where the protagonist is flung into the future to fight.

His main game of choice though seems to have been “Dragon Age”in which he played a Templar Knight.

Islam, Christianity, Jihad, and Templar Martyrdom:

Reading through the manifesto, it also becomes clear, as I mentioned above, that Anders shows some confused thought on exactly why he is doing all of this. He makes statements against Islam, then, in true cognitive dissonance, praises the Muslim people and faith. He drags out Communism and Marxism as well, but in all, fails to come up with cogent arguments altogether as to why he and his knights are doing what they are alleged to be doing. This is the greatest area of disorganized thought by Anders and is augmented mainly by the cut and paste of great swaths of infomation to back up his thought processes.

Overall, it just seems to be a manifested boogey man culled from the current environment with regard to terrorism and some of Anders deeper fears. In all, none of his ramblings that he claims are the aegis of the “Justiciar Knights” are fully articulated. If anything, he seems to be emulating the jiadhi’s as well as perhaps empathizing with their travails in that he takes a lot of time thnking about his operational security. Much of these sections are remarkably like the writings lately in Inspire magazine by Al Malahem. Perhaps Anders even read the first six issues of Inspire.

Additionally, Breivik calls his operation a “martyr” operation. Everything else though within the document does not intone his intention to take his own life as a part of the operation. In fact, he actually says that he hopes to be taken alive to be an exemplar for future knights. It is also interesting to note that in his manifesto’s picture section, he has a picture of himself with what looks to be a suicide belt (explosives) but to date, I have not heard that he in fact had this on him at the time of his arrest. Once again, muddled thinking showing his dissociative condition where he just seems to be mirroring the jihadi’s…

In the distorted mirror of his mental illness. An illness that was exacerbated with steroid and anti depressant use.

PCCTS.com & quofataferunt.com Connections:

Soon after this story broke, and the internet hounds began digging, someone discovered a site called pccts.com. Now, pccts.com is in fact no longer available to look at as the owners have removed all of the content but, if you dig around enough, you get a sense of just what its all about. Primarily, the site appears to be a melange of Templar Knights rhetoric overlaid with conspiracy theories that involve the Illuminati and nuclear strikes on the US.

In other words, a heady mix for someone with a dissociative disorder that seems focused on Templar Knights and conspiracies no?

It is my belief that the PCCTS and Quofataferunt sites really have no real connection to the mass murder other than perhaps being fodder for the delusions of Anders. I would be interested to know if Anders actually frequented the site and if he was a posting member, but, since the redact, there have been no Google caches to use to verify this whatsoever. I can though say that the content of the site does jive with some of what Anders was saying in his manifesto. There are posts that show some crazy future plans for a nuclear attack on cities in the US as well as many articles concerning the encroachment of Islam including the following post:

Once translated, the post talks about how the jihad now has designs against Masons and Masonic temples. Evidently, there was a CSIS (Canadian Intelligence) put out a paper on how the jihadi’s now think that the Masons pose a threat to them. The post is certainly more conspiracy fodder for like minded persons and certinaly would have been a worry for someone like Anders who claims to have been a Mason. I assume that this type of thread within this site may have re-enforced the delusions of someone like Anders.

Also, it is interesting to note that the site and its adherents are supporters of Anonymous as well. One conspiracy opens the doors for others it seems. Of course the real smoking gun for me is the image directly below. The new world order of Islam… Indeed.

I am sure that if Anders saw this he would have certainly felt that his delusion was correct and would re-double his own efforts with the Justiciar Knights. Another fun fact that I located on this site is a connection (albeit circumstantial) between the admin of this site “Baphomet or Temohpab” and Anders. The connection is within the following post;

Translation from Dutch:

@ Dreams: Take a good look on the sagas of the Norse Vikings and then youdiscover that some who have played really well and that these are things to check!

But you’re right! I too have discovered something last night in my bloodline!

One of my ancestors was Hardeknud (Wiki: en.wikipedia.org / wiki /Harthacnut_of_Denmark) and there is a strange kink in the cable. He was the sonof: the Mythological Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye (Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org / wiki /Sigurd_Snake-in-the-Eye) and then by son: Ragnar Lodbrok (Wiki: and.wikipedia.org / wiki / Ragnar_Lodbrok) so suddenly from Hardeknud keeps up withthe era …

The connection here is that within the manifesto, Anders claims that his Templar Knights code name is “Sigurd” and his superior was Richard (Lionheart) I find it interesting that Baphomet should lay claim to this connection way back in October 2010 while Anders was still formulating his manifesto. Of course the symbolism here is all too coincidental for me, (Knights Templar sites run by Baphomet and the PCCTS, The claim that Baphomet is directly linked lineally to Sigurd, the conspiratorial nature of the sites Baphomet runs) that Anders would not have known about this site and perhaps contributed.

The problem though is that unless we get evidence from the site itself (mostly redacted now) or from Anders systems, we may never really know. It is also key to note that within Anders manifesto, he takes great pains as well to teach about security and anonymity on the internet. He makes claims that he was wiping hard drives and using encryption as well as hides for his drives and data (in one case he claims to have created secret compartments in walls where he had hidden usb drives with data as well) If indeed Anders did follow his own tutorials, we may not have much to work with (i.e. the cops as well) to see what his digital footprint was.

Another fact that backs this up is that the Facebook account and his year2083@gmail acct seem to have both been created right before he went on his so called mission. All other traces of him are hard to come by on the internet. I have tried with Maltego to see if there is more to run with, but there is too much dirty data since the incident as well as not too much to go on because if he was posting out there, it was not under his real name.

It’s a bit of a digital dead end until the cops leak data on anything they find forensically.

Signs of the Times:

In the end, I guess that I just see this as the usual sign of the times with the pressures of today on a sick mind. Anders presents some classical symptoms of paranoid delusion or schizoid behavior while doing so in a very ordered fashion. It was this tendency toward anal behavior that kept him on track and from being detected sooner I think. Well, that and the whole aegis of his crusade was to be secretive as a single cell operation for the Justiciar Knights. Anders cherry picked conspiracy theories, religious and political beliefs and molded them into his own cohesive delusion spurred on by the news of the day concerning terrorism and Islam. He was bombarded with it every day as well as I am sure, lived out his fantasies within the game world of RPG Templar adventures.

It was only a matter of time before he actuated it in reality (his own) and it then connected with ours in a deadly way.

This behavior though can be seen online in others. The PCCTS site and its sisters are just one manifestation of a trend I have seen online. There are may conspiracy nuts out there, and more of them seem to be going to or creating sites like these. Alex Jones for one example has a whole cottage industry in conspiracy theories on new world order and ranting that at times makes me worry that one day his Texan ass will snap and he will unload a hail of bullets at some government facility. For that matter, I am actually much more concerned that Anders may in fact have been a listener as well as frequenting his sites as well, reading up and fueling his own delusions. Sufice to say that Jones’ sites may be spawning even more Anders out there himself.

Of course he has the right to publish what he wants and I would defend that to the end.. However, I would keep an eye on the site for tell tale signs of people who may be on the same path as ‘Sigurd’

Time will tell as the court case goes on in Norway as to what other details of Anders life will come out. I predict though that perhaps one of Anders wishes in the manifesto may come to pass… He may yet be a martyr and an example for other delusional people out there and they will use his blueprint to create their own jihad.

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That’s it? All we get is this stinkin garbage file?

Well, it seems that the Lulz are over for now as last night saw the Lulzboat sail into the sunset. In a post on twitter and a rapidly seeded file dump on Pirate Bay, the LulzSec collective decided to hang up their tophat claiming that they were basically going to pull a Costanza at the top of their game.

Within the torrent file the following parting words were sent:

Friends around the globe,

We are Lulz Security, and this is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. 50 days ago, we set sail with our humble ship on an uneasy and brutal ocean: the Internet. The hate machine, the love machine, the machine powered by many machines. We are all part of it, helping it grow, and helping it grow on us.

For the past 50 days we’ve been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. All to selflessly entertain others – vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. It’s what we all crave, even the seemingly lifeless politicians and emotionless, middle-aged self-titled failures. You are not failures. You have not blown away. You can get what you want and you are worth having it, believe in yourself.

While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn’t that interesting to know? The mediocre painter turned supervillain liked cats more than we did.

Again, behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec movement. We believe in it so strongly that we brought it back, much to the dismay of those looking for more anarchic lulz. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we’ve gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don’t stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve.

So with those last thoughts, it’s time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind – we hope – inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere.

Thank you for sailing with us. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon.

Let it flow…

Hrmmm.. 50 days? Is there any real significance to this other than perhaps the party van was pulling up outside your doors and you had to dump the garbage file quick like? Honestly, the files that you dumped, while in sheer numbers of passwords and logon’s to a few sites is well, kinda weak. In short, there is nothing revelatory here. I mean, jeez at LEAST the garbage file in the movie had some interesting malware shit in it right?

The Files:

So, we have some AT&T data from inside that cover some frequency ranges, and some manuals, minutes from meetings etc that are kind of interesting. There is a scan of the FBI.gov site that shows a vuln, and they managed to add Pablo Escobar to the Navy jobs database.

Whoopee.

All in all I have to give the Lulzsec crew a big “MEH” on this as well as their other dumps really. Sure, they have pointed out that low hanging fruit is abundant on the internet, but, really, who in the security or hacking world did not know this? Further more, what does the average everyday end user care? I mean, if their passwords are stolen, they will reset them. If their money is stolen they are insured by the Fed… Is there a great hue and cry from the masses because Lulz were had by the general populace to have the Lulzboat crew hoisted on the yard arm?

Not that I have seen.

In short kidz, you have only served to amuse yourselves and others out there but if you had anything else in mind about bringing change to the scene, I don’t think you have succeeded. People are creatures of habit and sloth. Short of taking the whole system down for the count, nothing will be so epic as to make corporations secure their networks and perform due diligence. Those who have done so out of worry because of your antics will go back to their peaceful Luddite slumber.

Leaving So Soon?

So, on to your sudden departure from the scene. I have the feeling that as I had written about before, you were coming to realize that perhaps you could never be as clever or wily to evade detection and prosecution given your penchant for the dramatic you all seem to have. Your propaganda machine and communication channels were leaking, this you could see from the A-Team dumps.

You guys have tried variations of your names, you have attempted obfuscate as much as you could, but, in the end, your re-use of favored screen names was your undoing. You see, the jester has been scouring the internet (I am sure with help from others) looking for any connections to those screen names or iterations thereof. I myself have done this and came up with analogous data to what jester and others have posted. With each successive day, your true identities are being uncovered if they have not fully been as of now.

However, this re-use of nick names and ties to email addresses aside, you guys just were immature enough to do yourselves in with petty disputes and the use of non trustworthy assets. This whole outing of each other thing was one of the most stupid things I have seen. Sure, some of it could be digital chaff, with you trying to set out disinformation, but I think that is not the case. Your own hubris shall be the thing that ends up placing the party vans on your collective front steps.

Lets face it, you played the game of spooks and I think in the end, you will lose. In fact, I think that you should probably have been better off had you just gone off seeking some sharks with frikkin lazers on their heads in your volcano lair instead of playing with the fire that you have been. Once they do pop you, you all are going to see some very interesting things inside jail as the governments kluge together terrorism charges on you.

Your Legacy:

Well, I guess we will have to see if anyone decides to take up the Lulzsec mantle. For now, we all await the party van posse to pick you all up sooner or later. You have spawned some more fools though like Team Poison who want to up the ante with releases of data like old Tony Blair stuff… That was kinda lame too frankly and made so sense when they claimed to still have access.. Why dump what you have and then claim to still have access? If it was current, I am pretty sure they have yanked the plug on that mail server and ‘five’ has it.

Oh, did you take that into account? I mean, he is Tony Blair after all… They are MI5… ‘Expect them’

So where was I?… Oh yeah..

In all of your dumps you delivered nothing worth your or our time. You proved a point that SQLi is prevalent but who didn’t know this? You have proved that you were pretty immature and likely suffer from Asperger’s yourselves… Well that will be the claim that your lawyers make to the judge won’t it huh? I mean that is the mental illness du jour as excuses go for immature hacking antics today isn’t it? I don’t think that will work though, the government just doesn’t care, they will medicate you and then put you on trial. You see Asperger’s is not a form of insanity, and the insanity plea, as some of us know, is NOTORIOUSLY hard to use as a defense in court. Nope, you guys really actually suffer from inflated ego’s and too much jolt cola.. That’s my diagnosis, for what its worth.

So, yeah, legacy… Well, you certainly have tried to do your best imitation of SPECTRE, but instead you came off as Bighead. I am sure there will be others following in your footsteps, but, in the end I don’t think you have launched a new SPECTRE.

Nope, I expect your real legacy will be the creation of more draconian laws by the government as a backlash to your antics. Laws that will make all our lives a bit more less private and a lot more prone to being misused. I also expect that the lulz will continue, though at your expense once you are all caught and put into the pokey.

As of last night, I had heard that PrimorisEra was back and posting to a new blog. Today Wired has fired off a follow up to the earlier report and her return. It seems from the report that perhaps the Pentagon investigation is over and that in fact Shawna Gorman may indeed be the First Lady of Missiles. It remains to be seen if this is really the case but since she is back and blogging, I would have to lean toward my assessment from before. Still though, my cautionary statements about social networking and SECOPS still apply.

It started out with a leggy, bikini-clad avatar. She said she was a missile expert — the “1st Lady of Missiles,” in fact — but sometimes suggested she worked with the CIA. With multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts, she earned a following of social media-crazed security wonks. Then came the accusations of using sex appeal for espionage.

Now everyone involved in this weird network is adjusting their story in one way or another, demonstrating that even people in the national security world have trouble remembering one of the basic rules of the internet: Not everyone is who they say they are.

“I think anyone puts pictures out online to lure someone in,” the woman at the center of the controversy insists. “But it’s not to lure men in to give me any information at all… I liked them. They’re pretty. Apparently everyone else thought so too.”

This is a strange, Twitter-borne tale of flirting, cutouts, and lack of online caution in the intelligence and defense worlds. Professionals who should’ve known better casually disclosed their personal details (a big no-no in spook circles) and lobbed allegations they later couldn’t or wouldn’t support (a big no-no in all circles). It led to a Pentagon investigation. And it starts with a Twitter account that no longer exists called @PrimorisEra.

Yesterday, Wired posted a news article about another potential social networking attack on the .mil and .gov types involving Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz. The snippet above really sums up what is alleged to have happened and the problems with Social media’s blasé attitudes where people who have jobs that require secrecy meet and chat.

Presently, according to the article, a Pentagon investigation is under way into this story, but once again, this is not the first time we have heard this type of story in the press with these same players. It was last year when a profile online named “Robin Sage” made the rounds on LinkedIn and other social media formats. This “cutout” as they are called in the espionage community, was in fact a fake profile used by a security researcher to prove a point. By using an attractive woman as the persona, the researcher was able to get people within the military and governmental community to add her and flirt. Through the flirting, the unsuspecting connections gave up valuable data on what they did for a living, where they were, and perhaps even locations in country around the battlefield in Afghanistan.

Many just fell for the profile hook line and sinker.. And that is a bad thing for anyone in this sector. It was a lesson in OPSEC and it’s failure. Potentially, this emerging case from the Wired story could also be much the same. The number of online personae that are involved in this story are just a little too many to just think that it was an innocent mistake on the part of a young woman seeking attention online from her peers within the government and military. However, its also just as possible that that is all it really is.

The thing about this is that this type of exploit is not new at all. This is commonly known as a honeypot in the espionage area and before there was an Internet, there was the local cafe or bar, where one would just happen to meet a lovely young thing and start a relationship. That relationship would then be turned into blackmail (either emotional or literal) and suddenly, you are an asset for the adversary. The new twist is that services need not deploy an asset to a foreign country to search for and find access to those who they want to get information from. Today all they need to have is an Internet connection and Google. It is only even more easily carried out now that there are Social Media sites like Facebook and others to sidle digitally up to anyone you like and start to work on them if you know how.

There used to be a time where every operator was given the tutorials on espionage means and methods. People were forewarned about travelling to other countries and if you are cleared, you have to report suspicious contacts to the DSS. Today though, I don’t think that they have even attempted to try this with online content. I mean, how many reports a day would you have to make to DSS if you are online and just talking to people in a chat room or on Facebook? It would be impossible. So it is understandable, as social animals, that we develop this technology to connect with others and being that it is a rather insular means of communications, feel that we can just let loose with information. After all, how does one really assure that who they are talking to is indeed that person that they claim to be?

So, people forget and really, this is still all relatively new isn’t it? There are no maps here.

Now, back to this story, no one has claimed that data has been leaked. It is only the appearance of things have set off the alarm bells for people and agencies. When one user finally decided to call the alleged cutout’s profile out, a subsequent shit storm began that ended up with @primosera deleting their Twitter, Facebook, and Google accounts thus making the story seem even more suspect.

Was Shawn E Gorman a cutout? Is she really the grad student and contractor she claims to be in her tweets? What about the allusions to the CIA? All of the missile tech and political discussions? Well, given the background of what can be located readily online, there is a Shawn Elizabeth Gorman attending Johns Hopkins as a research assistant getting her MBA in Government, so, perhaps. Or maybe someone has just taken on the persona of Ms. Gorman to use as a cutout for these activities?

Frankly, I am leaning toward it really being her. As you can see from the photos above, I located a photo other than the one from Wired that purports to be Shawn E. Gorman born 1983 to a Nancy Gorman. I also located data that shows a Shawn E. Gorman living in Bethesda MD with the same mother. Given that the photo is an early one, and one of the few out there easily found, I am thinking it is one in the same. However, this does not mean that it has been her behind that keyboard when she was talking to all of the people involved.

Time will tell what is what once the Pentagon’s investigation gets done. It could be that this is all for naught security wise from the compromise perspective. However, this once again is an object lesson for everyone online. Nevermind if you work in a job that requires security, everyone should be cognisant that when they are online talking to someone that they do not know in real life, are just that much more possibly talking to someone who is not their “friend” and looking to just have a chat. From the common data thief to the corporate spy, we all may have data that someone wants and will be willing to pretend a while to get it.

We want to be social and open as we are social animals… Just so happens that sometimes that is a bad idea.

I think though, that everyone who works in security or within a security centric job space will have to go through some more training in the near future. This is just a warning bell and I think it best that the government and military listen to it. Even as the article goes on to mention, there are restrictions on the military about posting online, but still they cannot deny these people access to the likes of Facebook for morale. It is really playing with fire either way, in denying the access it seems draconian and people will fight it. On the other hand, if you allow it and monitor it, you are damned for monitoring people’s interaction online.

Hell, even the CIA has set up its own social networks within the CIA’s Intranet so people can talk and ostensibly share ideas and data. However, that is on an Intranet that is well protected….

Meanwhile, back on the Internet, we have places like LinkedIn. Sounds like a great idea, networking for jobs and such. Then the .gov and .mil folks all got online and began to show themselves and much of their data in a contained space. So much of a treasure trove is LinkedIn that Anna Chapman (as seen above from her Russian Maxim shoot) was only 2 degrees of separation from me within my network on LinkedIn! She was mining the connections as a sleeper for the SVR and all she had to do was put up a pretty picture and say hi.

For me it comes down to this;

1) If you sign up for these places hide as much of your data as you can.

2) Pay attention to the security measures that the sites have in place.. Or don’t. Facebook has had a terrible record on personal privacy but look how many people they have on there and just how much personal data is available to anyone who can look at the page, even a cached version.

3) When you get invites from people check them out. Use other means than the current site (aka LinkedIn) to do that research. See if you can nail down who they are in reality. Even then, once you are friends, think before you type. You may be giving out data that you personally don’t want anyone to have.

4) Placing too much family data on the Internet is a threat. Anything from Identity theft to outright stalking and physical danger can be the outcome if you make it too easy for someone to get your data.

5) If you suspect that someone you are talking to is not indeed who you think they are, walk away.

6) AND for God’s sake, if you are a guy, in the military or government, or hold a classified status and some hot avatar’d chick starts PM’ing you, its either a bot or it’s likely another cutout. ESPECIALLY if you lay out your life’s story online as to what you do and where you work.

7) Finally, remember what I have repeated over and over again. Whoever you are talking to MAY NOT BE WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE!

Just don’t put that data out there and end up in the hot seat with your job on the line over a little virtual tail.

Recently, a story has come up in the news concerning certain police departments (Michigan to be precise) have been taking more or less “forensic” images of people’s cell phones and other PDA devices when they have them stopped for traffic violations. Since the reports went live, the Michigan PD has sent out a rebuttal saying that they are in fact asking the citizen if they can scan their data. I say, whether or not they actively are doing it or not, they have the ability to do so per the courts since the loosening of the laws on search and seizure in places like California and Michigan where electronic media is concerned. The net effect is that our due process rights are being eroded in an ever rapid pace.

In January 2011, California’s Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that police could conduct warrantless inspections of suspects’ cell phones. According to the majority decision, when a person is taken into police custody, they lose privacy rights to anything they’re carrying on them.

The ruling describes, “this loss of privacy allows police not only to seize anything of importance they find on the arrestee’s body … but also to open and examine what they find.”

In a dissenting ruling, Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar stated, “[The ruling allows police] to rummage at leisure through the wealth of personal and business information that can be carried on a mobile phone or hand-held computer merely because the device was taken from an arrestee’s person.”

But California was not alone. Michigan State Police officers have been using a device called Cellebrite UFED Physical Pro for the last couple years. The device scrapes off everything stored on the phone — GPS geotag data, media (pictures, videos, music, etc.), text messages, emails, call history, and more.

Michigan State Police have been reportedly regularly been scraping the phones of people they pull over.

In neighboring Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court has ruled that while such searches are generally illegal, their evidence can become admissible in court if the police demonstrate an exigency (a press need) for the information.

Essentially this ruling offers support for such searches as it indicates that they can give solid evidence and ostensibly offers no repercussions to law enforcement officials conducting the officially “illegal” procedure.

So far the only state to have a high profile ruling against the practice was Ohio. The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that warrant-less smart phone searching violated suspects’ rights. The requested the U.S. Supreme Court review the issue, but the request was denied.

II. What Does the Constitution Say?

The United States Constitution ostensibly is the most important government document in the U.S. It guarantees essential rights to the citizens of the U.S.

Some of those rights are specified in the Fourth Amendment, part of the original Bill of Rights. It states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Constitution explicitly states that effects of a person cannot be unreasonably seized without a warrant.

Of course courts must play the vital role of defining what a “reasonable” search is. But by extending the limits of searches to deem nearly all searches “reasonable”, no matter how tenuous the connection to a suspects detainment, this and several other decisions have created an erosion of the protections in the amendment.

Essentially what court rulings in California, Michigan, and Wisconsin indicate is that the courts believe the Constitution is no longer valid, or that certain Constitutional freedoms can be specially selected for elimination.

The law and our losing the path :

The legal battle over the terms here has come down to the nature of papers and effects where they regard digital media as I understand it. I sat in on the EFF talk at Shmoocon where this very topic was brought up. It seems, that the gray areas of just what is a laptop or a phone as opposed to a “cabinet or desk” is a key factor in how some interpret the legalities of searching someone’s hard drive or phone. In my opinion, they are the same thing. A laptop is a case in which my data is stored, just like a desk or a room, which, you MUST get a warrant to search.

But, that’s just me I guess.

Personally, as the title of this post alludes, I believe that all of this started as soon as John Yoo and the Bush administration began to twist the laws concerning not only torture, but moreover, the use of warrant-less wiretaps. Post 9/11 the US went mad for tapping of phones/data at the trunk level in such instances like the one in the MAE West where they put in the NARUS STA6400. This was the biggie for me because that system hoovers ALL of the traffic, there is no selectivity over it at all. Sure the STA6400 can sift the data, but it needs ALL of the data in order to sift and data-mine. Who’s to say what data becomes important other than those who are running the compartmentalised program that has to report nothing to anyone because it is too secret.

What allowed for all of this to happen and then for the over-reaching to continue was 9/11 itself. Having been in NYC at the towers just before the attacks and working there just after in the hole, I know how many felt after it all went down. We here in the US had only had a handful of terrorist attacks within our borders and those were nothing in comparison to what took place on that day.

We all felt vulnerable and wanted the government to take care of us. We wanted vengeance, and we wanted a take charge guy.

Unfortunately that “guy” was GW Bush and his posse of cowboys who then began to run rough shod over the constitution and other documents like the Geneva conventions. It was from this need to be protected that the American people just went along with the things they knew about, as well as a healthy dose of over classification by the Bush administration that kept us in the dark as to what they really were doing. It was only later, toward the end of the second term that the full scope of abuses were coming out, and yet, the American populace really did nothing. Sure, we elected Obama who made promises to end the nightmare of abuse… But.. He hasn’t has he?

So, here we are in 2011. Ten years post 9/11, and we are finding our rights being eroded by legal positions and decisions that remove the most basic and cherished rights to reasonable searches slipping away.

Who’s to blame?

Us.

We the people have failed to keep in check the actions of the government and in some cases the courts because we have taken our collective hand off the tiller steering this country. Perhaps we really have no hand on that tiller to start simply because we have created a beast that is too big to control or have any sway over. By just looking at the state of affairs today within the political arena, one has to admit that its becoming more and more akin to what it used to be back in the days of Boss Tweed than anything looking like the era of J.F.K.

Simply put, without the people standing up and calling a foul on these types of erosions to liberty, then we have nothing to complain about when the liberties are taken away. On that list is the rights granted to us all by the fourth amendment. The tough thing now though is that where once your personal belongings were either in your house or on your person. Now, those “papers and effects” live digitally not only on your device that you have on you, but also may exist “in the cloud” as well. A cloud that you “use” and is not “owned” by you.

So sure, a cop could ask you if they can look at your phone data. Do they have to say that they are taking an “alleged” forensic image? Perhaps not, but, the thing about the whole Michigan PD thing is that independent reports have shown that they were not asking, they were just taking images when they felt they wanted to, and this is where they run afoul of due process. As far as I am concerned, a file on a phone that is not on the screen as a cop looks at it while it sits in front of him in plain view, is NOT a document that he should just have the right to fish for without a warrant.

Sorry cops… It’s a country of laws, no matter how you try to spin them so you can cut corners.

On the other hand, I know how hard it must be for the police forces of the world to do their jobs now in a digital world. Especially one that so few really understand and likely fear. These magic boxes called phones and computers now hold data that could easily make a case for crimes, but, you just can’t take them and rummage through them just like anything else where due process is concerned. What’s more, I know for a fact that unless you are a forensic investigator, AND you have a decent tool, YOU WILL MISS DATA. Which will lead potentially to acquittal because you did not follow processes such as chain of custody in E-Discovery.

For some though, I am sure it’s just about cutting a corner to make a collar… And that is not how the law is supposed to work.

Our complicity in our own privacy erosion:

Meanwhile, in the last few days another spate of news articles warned about how the iOS and Android systems were collecting data on our movements and details. This particular story is not new if you have been paying attention, it was just the aggregate amount of data that we saw being collected by the iOS particularly that shocked the general populace. For these people I have news for you;

This data and even more have been collected on you all for every service that you sign up for on the Internet. Every phone call you make, every text you send, every picture you upload. All of it is available to someone else who has access to the data.

It’s not private.

YOU have been giving away your personal data every minute of every day that you upload or pass through the telco/Internet systems.

So, even if laws are being subverted on personal searches, your data can and will be taken from the likes of Twitter and other services, perhaps even through NSL letters to those hosts and you will be none the wiser. For every post you put up on Facebook with all of your personal details, not only are you sharing that data with your “friends” but the company and whoever they want to sell it to as well.

The privacy you think you have.. Doesn’t exist.

In the case of the iOS data, no one knew about it from a customer perspective, but I am sure that there was some small print somewhere in the EULA when you bought the phone that allows Apple to collect the data… Not that they have to tell you they are doing it in big letters or clear language. So, that data too is not completely yours any more once you have agreed to their agreement to use/own the phone.

The short and long of it is that we are giving up our right to privacy for shiny toys and a sense of security that we can never really have.

In the end, the data that the iOS collects has yet to be proven to be sent to the Apple mother ship. Apple to date, has made no statement on the collection of the data nor the reasons for doing so. One can assume though, that they have some sort of location based software solution that they want to sell down the road and really, it’s caveat emptor. I am just glad that the security community likes to tinker and found this stuff, bringing it to light.

We are all to blame.

Unless we all take up the battle against the loss of privacy then we have none. Just as well, unless we speak truth to power and stop the erosion of rights to privacy within our body of laws, then we have nothing to complain about. We will have done it to ourselves.